Midfield must take their share of the responsibility

Yep. We all thought this would be the turning point. We seem to save defensive errors for these big games away too

The above quote is the generally perceived view, but it is wrong.

The first goal was not because we committed a foul outside our own box that we didn't need to make perhaps. That was not the cause.

As a coach, I have talked before about finding the root of a problem and solving that. What happens after the root of the problem is the effect of that so solve that any the problem doesn't arise.

The problem was on the edge of their box where we gave the ball away with a weak pass, something we did several times and something which I am constantly showing we do wrong. Passes should be zipped, not rolled so opponents do not have that chance to steal the ball.

I'd have to check but if I remember right the same thing happened for the second goal, so while the defence made mistakes (no excuse for Son's tackle), the root cause was in midfield outside their box. That is where responsibility initially lies. Had those errors not been made then players would not have been in the situations they were and would not have had to make the decisions they made.

Yes, decision making at that point wasn't of the standard we need, but we put them in that position by giving away the ball easily with an unforced error.

10 comments:

That is two games with Chelsea with Moses in open space on the right and the result is two goals - what a risk to play Son as a wing back with responsibility to cover - MP made a mistake - also we need to buy a quality bench this summer - look at the difference with what Chelsea had to offer - that is what we lack

Could have covered the left back spot in so many better ways . If he wanted to play Son and Victor then move Dier to CB and Jan to LB . Not sure Victor was fully fit thus if Davies was not carrying a knock then should have been the same team v Bournemouth . The manager IMO made an error and he is human and permitted to do that . Hugo on top form saves the free kick and that makes a huge difference . It has happened we can not change it all we can do now is win last 6 PL games .

So, what do we take from the game?Well probably the most important point is that Poch is still learning.One only had to look at Sonny’s first half performance to deduce that this was a player who had little confidence in his new role, and the way in which he was ignored, for the most part, by his team simply reinforced that view!Then, if that was not enough, Victor, who just grew and grew as the game progressed, is subbed (late on) to be replaced by N’Koudo! This is the player who’s going to change the game? Why not throw Janssen up front with Kane for the last 10 minutes?Sorry Posh but yesterday you did not help the cause.Result not withstanding though, I can still appreciate the manner in which the team responded throughout the match.

I generally agree. Taking a share of responsibility sits better with me than taking the blame.

Let's face it, we came up against a very strong Chelsea side who had been configured to thwart us. Even under those conditions we had a fantastic game. Chelsea struggled to keep us from scoring and didn't manage to stop us dominating (Ten corners to one is just one indicator). Not perfect, obviously. There were mistakes, and the original setup may have been questionable, but the approach of everyone out there on the pitch was exactly as we'd want it to be. There was a never-say-die attitude that stopped only when the final whistle went.

All of that was in spite of a poor ref who allowed them to kick us numerous times without proper punishment (Marcos Alonso & Ngolo Kante being the most numerous of those.), and often without even a free-kick, or penalty in the case of bringing Dele down in the box before contact with the ball. A bit like the Stamford Bridge debacle of last season.

I watched the game and was proud of the team out there. No question we'd have won if Danny Rose had been available. I also felt the first goal would have been avoided had Kyle Walker been on, but it's so much easier looking back. Very little to be ashamed of IMO.

I'm sorry but the responsibility stops with Poch. Why was Walker on the bench ? Why was was Son used as a wing back as Davies has been doing better in recent weeks ? We are told you win your place in training, Walker is the best right back in the country and as a wing back one of the best in europe. It seemed like he was trying to fit players feelings at the expense of the tean. I really hope this never happens again, I can except it once but never the same mistake again.

The more I think about the match the more I’m convinced that at half time Poch failed to make a decision regarding Sonny; either he does not start the second half or restarts in his normal position i.e. our basic set-up becomes 3-3-3-1. My preference would have been the latter so we are no longer playing with wingbacks but we have not used a substitute and the Chelsea defense, and David Luiz in particular, has a lot more to think about.We would have to use more of the longer ball in transition but can apply more pressure to the Chelsea back three when we lose possession, and, in all probability, will force Conté into making a defensive change.It’s easy in retrospect but why put Sonny in that dilemma in the first place?For example Verts could have played the wingback position and Wimmer could have come into the back three?

I agree with both comments. MP tried something that I certainly didn't see the wisdom of. Not having Danny Rose available was a killer blow. Losing Walker's pace against such a fast-breaking attack was not what I'd have chosen.

I do believe we have to accept that MP's thinking was probably more complicated overall than just those points though. I generally find he makes good decisions and am happy he's the manager. Maybe he got it wrong this time. Maybe the puzzle was more complicated than we appreciate without being privvy to all the details. I don't know.

I do know that we've progressed enormously in the time he's been with us, and I also know he has a character type that has the honesty to learn from mistakes. he's put steel and backbone into the team. Even with all the problems I feel we showed up very well on the day. Certain things didn't go our way. In spite of that we were very close to winning that game. Chelsea hung on for a long time under a lot of pressure.

I believe we're looking forwards and upwards in spite of this setback.

Totally agree with all these Comment , MP got it wrong on Saturday play your strongest eleven available, grow some Balls Mauricio and tell Sonny he was dropped from the starting line up , and there's your trump card from the bench , both Davies and Walker should have started and the team would have had more of a balance to it, That was one of Victors poorest games I've seen him have this season . Also I can not believe nobody has picked up on the fact that Martin Atkinson the sad excuse of a human being Is obviously a Gooner fan and blatantly has the utmost pleasure in seeing Tottenham fail. Maybe the Lino gave the Pen on sat but the ref could have easily overruled that decision and booked Moses for diving.I cannot believe MP didn't Q the fact that Atkinson should not have been officiating another important big game where Spurs are involved, he did it last time made one of the biggest cocks up in FA cup history ,

Conspiracy is Martin Atkinson had spurs to lose 4-2 (not Chelsea to win) and Spurs finish the game with 10 men but unfortunately his bet was down as Tottenham dominated possession giving Atkinson no opportunity to send any Spurs player off